[DreamSword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunred

Quick question to those who are watching or watched this show. Has Dogengers ever convinced you to consider going on a trip to Fukuoka? It being the setting and all.

If I ever have the money, I for sure will after having seen this show.

[DreamSword]

Episode 9: The Guidance Counselor

Androzani: Oh no, Yabai Kamen got Yabai-er

DS: This episode went places, man.

This episode was like three different episodes all glued together, and yet, it all actually worked out somehow? That's such a rarity for TV shows.

En-chan: Well if anyone could make it work, it's Dogengers.

Androzani: I have to say, this episode is a personal favourite of mine from this season, purely for Miko getting to transform with Kireko.

DS: It's very rare that you get to see the middle aged mom be the hero, that's for sure.

But yeah, I feel like I've used the phrase "wasn't expecting that" alot this season, but it's been true every time. If there's one thing I can give Dogengers as a whole, it's that it knows how to keep me on my toes.

En-chan: Which is pretty great considering we're 3 seasons in at this point.

Androzani: Another highlight was Yabai kamen's enmity with the security guard.

DS: If only Hiden Intelligence had this good of security.

En-chan: So many problems would have been solved.

DS: As for what exactly this episode is, well, what starts off as seemingly a focus episode for Kireko, soon turns into a spotlight for Miko, Mako's' mom. Only for Koujin Ex to join the fray and get his big character moment too. It's a 3-in-1 hero special and I think they managed to blend it all together rather well.

Androzani: And fun fact, Miko's transformation actually is counted as a unique hero named MAMA.

DS: Ha, I like that.

En-chan: I did like that little touch when they showed the emblem on the outfit.

It's also nice to just get a full focus episode on Koujin Ex since he's been here and there for a while.

Androzani: Even if his horrible sense of direction leads him around in circles back to where he started

DS: Honestly I was just surprised to see that he had a full team of heroes back in his hometown.

Koujin was definitely fun to watch in this one though, given his bumbling nature. Not to mention how unique his design is for toku heroes in general. Dude's got alot of natural charm to him.

Androzani: Yeah, his plus-sized suit stands out.

DS: While it's only a brief bit at the start(and arguably the end), I did appreciate the lesson that sometimes you need to let people sit with their thoughts. It's a lesson I myself had to learn the hard way in life. And it's one you don't often see in kid's' shows, really.

En-chan: Definitely.

It's also nice to see Mako just get a break in terms of just, everything. We hardly see her this episode, so it's a nice showing of just how exactly this whole thing is affecting her and that it's not going to be an immediate bounce back.

Androzani: Of course, this does result in the downside of Yabai Kamen managing to steal the Hashikiri-Hasebe with the main heroes none the wiser.

DS: I'mma be real, I will never remember that name, so expect me to just call it "the katana" for like, ever.

En-chan: Totally fair.

Androzani: My brother once said you can tell how dangerous a sword is by how cool its name is.

DS: Ya know, pretty true most of the time.

But with the arrival of Warlord Kamen, we now have an answer to a questioned I asked during Nice Buddy.

Jisariz does infact happen after Nice Buddy but before High School. So if you wanna watch everything in chronological order, there ya go.

Androzani: I dunno, Yabai Kamen's had quite a few new forms.

En-chan: I mean, Jisariz hardly makes sense but I suppose it is nice to know where it could potentially slot in

DS: Given that both shows have totally baffled me, I suppose it's thematically fitting that they cross over. Can't wait for Jisariz to show up in Shin Dogengers.

(Director's Note: DreamSword has no idea if that's actually gonna happen.)

Androzani: Neither do I, since only one episode's been subbed.

En-chan: And I can't even cheekily hint at any potential thing because like, Shin Dogengers has like barely any raws circulating, which is why only one episode's been subbed.

DS: Times like these we pray to our saviors known as Discotek for potential official subs.

Speaking of localization though, this is probably gonna seem out of left field, but with the general way this episode flowed and how all the characters played off eachother, this episode got me wondering just what an English dub of Dogengers would sound like, were it to ever happen.

Androzani: I Imagine Yabai Kamen would sound like the Barians in Battlemorph form from Yu-Gi-Oh ZEXAL.

DS: No, see, I wanna a declaration about that.

If any company gets dubbing rights to this franchise, I don't care who you are.

Have me voice Yabai Kamen.

I'll do it for free.

I am 1000% serious.

En-chan: There you have it folks.

Androzani: I was going to call the role of Kireko.

DS: Perfect.

En-chan you can be Mako.

En-chan: I feel like my voice might be a bit too deep, but I suppose that's how the dice lands.

DS: Hahaha. Anyhow! Were there any other aspects of this episode you guys wanted to call attention to?

Androzani: Miko's transformation didn't include any obvious MagiPink references. Not sure whether to be pleasantly surprised or bitterly disappointed.

En-chan: I appreciate how Shaberryman managed to get the katana by just removing his mask and posing as a normal dude. Really putting that lore of him being the only employed human to good use after we learned it this season.

DS: Yeah that was actually really smart. Very cool that it ended up being foreshadowing back in the first episode.

With all that said, there's only one way to properly end this episode, given all that's been established.

Samurai Swords to the death!

Androzani: I only have a ninja sword.

DS: Bro... c'mon.

En-chan: I'm sure I have something lying around... if not there's the old reliable, chair.

DS: Gah! Fine! Just tune in next time then! Get in the car, losers, we're getting you samurai swords!

[DreamSword]

Episode 10: Japanese History B

DS: My reaction whenever someone says toku is stupid.

En-chan: An appropriate one.

Androzani: This week, Kireko lets it out, courtesy of expositional history class.

DS: Not to mention Mako and Daisuke finally talking things out.

So one thing I wanna point before I forget: I rather liked the conversations Mako and Daisuke had with Great-2 and Jiro, and for like, entirely different reasons.

Jiro is great because that scene calls back to his character development in season 1, and Great, well...

Listen, I was starting to think that the show wasn't able to get Riku's' actor back, so seeing him take the helmet off was a nice surprise.

En-chan: Yeah, I'm assuming he was fairly busy so he had to be voice over most of the time.

At least until we got to this scene of course. It really helped sell it though if this is the one scene they were able to get him back for in person.

Androzani: Speaking of actors, Ohgaman's suit actor makes a guest appearance this episode... as a remarkably insane Nobunaga during the flashback to the origins of Heshikiri-Hasebe.

DS: And Ryoko is the poor girl who gets sliced in two.

While the backstory of Kireko and the teen romance are interesting and all, the heroes really were the main appeal to me in this one.

En-chan: We honestly got a lot of good moments with them all.

That scene where everyone's waiting for the confession only to immediately start going crazy when Kireko interrupts it was great.

Androzani: KitaQMan even gets to throw down with Shaberryman... albeit a sass battle.

DS: My favorite bit was when Daisuke and Mako start their talk, and everyone keeps busy with other things... only to be absolutely nosy about it anyway.

En-chan: They may be heroes, but they're still human, and that means being nosy when you're not supposed to.

DS: Yabai Kamen's' new form is certainly mighty, but I like the little hints we get that it's not exactly fun for him either. What with him sounding more and more drained as the fight goes on and the katana goes more out of control.

Androzani: There's probably an important reason the sheathe was needed. And Kireko's stunt double unfortunately gets wrecked early on.

En-chan: Unfortunately a replica cannot stand up to the real deal it seems.

DS: But hey, despite the unfortunate fate of being the test dummy for the sword's' powers, Koujin Ex got his hands on that scabbard, so maybe it'll come in handy anyway.

Overall, this was probably the most straight-forward of the episodes this season? Like, I liked it, had alot of good character moments, but in terms of plot beats? Very to the point.

En-chan: I suppose in a way it has to be since we're on the final stretch.

Androzani: Only two stamps left until the culture festival.

DS: Speaking of extra text, the subs for this episode had a handful of typos. This makes two episodes that really need a V2 in my eyes.

But yeah, to me this was fun for what it was. Nothing super extraordinary, but as the signal to our endgame, it works.

Did anything else stand out about it to you guys?

Androzani: Man, the narrative's been separating Mako and Kireko a lot. First the museum and now school.

En-chan: For being an influencer KitaQman is way too relaxed with his equipment, dude threw his selfie stick with the phone to the ground when Kireko barged in.

DS: Dude must have 10 million active subscribers or something.

But if that's all we got, well, maybe that giant tornado of dark power will drop a slew of craziness for us to talk about next time. Perhaps some ruby slippers.

[DreamSword]

Episode 11: Homework!

DS: SAMURAI SWORDS TO THE DEATH!

Androzani: In which Ohgaman taps into his inner Bruce Wayne/Tony Stark.

En-chan: Unfortunately, Ohgaman could not afford swords for the rest of the crew.

DS: He did manage to sneak in a fun reference to Lupin III though.

Androzani: And a call back to the Golden Seal, which I missed the first couple of times I watched this, due to my unfamiliarity with the previous seasons

DS: But anyway, this was very much the "lead up" episode to the final battle. And for what it was, it was nice.

Androzani: I could totally see where they were going with Kireko insisting that "I can totally fix this scabbard to solve all our problems."

En-chan: Which in turn leads into a very nice scene with him and the Dogengers which also calls back to S1 and the stuff that happened with I-DOLL there.

DS: Yeah I wasn't expecting that. Not just the callback to I-DOLL(and me totally guessing her real identity first try), but also the heroes having enough foresight to actually hold an intervention for Kireko. I rather liked that scene.

En-chan: Time will only tell if that intervention will stick.

But it was nice to see Jiro immediately take notice that something was wrong and then try to do something before anything drastic occurred.

Androzani: Also, only in Dogengers-land could a tokusatsu-looking ghost be mistaken for a superhero

(Okay, DC has the Haunted Tank and Deadman, so maybe them as well)

En-chan: Well what helps is Kireko really just looks the part.

And the fact that Local Heroes are just around every corner as seen in the opening episode this season.

DS: Which makes it kinda funny that Great-2 recognized him as a ghost like, immediately at the start of the show.

Androzani: Speaking of local heroes, Bincho Fire returns to join the culture festival, representing... whatever foreign dialect he speaks.

DS: And poor Koujin Ex is missing out due to oversleeping. Boy can I relate.

Androzani: He probably would just end up back in Yabai Kamen's office.

DS: I mean, they could've driven him, maybe? Which, by the way. That was awesome. Ohgaman just pulling up in his car and casually announcing that he bought the school. Frikken power move.

En-chan: Honestly, makes him the scariest Tokusatsu character for me as a result

Androzani: I'd make a joke about corporations buying schools, but all I can think of is that one Simpsons episode with Gary Coleman.

DS: By the way I also love how, despite Yabai Kamen being one step away from world conquest, everyone is treating the cultural festival as far more important. Insert your own "AND THE PROM'S TOMORROW" joke here.

Androzani: One wonders what the fate of the world would be like if Heshikiri-Hasebe hadn't turned Shaberryman's backpack into an evil fortress of doom.

DS: Well I mean if you're gonna have an evil katana you might as well make your final stand be the last level of a PS2 action game.

En-chan: The ending segment of it did give me JRPG vibes not gonna lie.

Just the allies we've made along the way outside of the gate that led to the final battle and of course the little rest area with the other heroes.

DS: For sure. I hope said final battle comes with an awesome song to go along with it. Or maybe the show peaked with Koujin Ex's' theme a couple episodes back, I dunno.

En-chan: Well we'll probably be getting a rather cool sword duel of some sort, so there's that at least

DS: But that's basically all I got for this one. How about you guys?

Androzani: All I can do is note that the culture festival banner gets demolished for a Yabai Kamen castle mural, and make a tongue in cheek next time announcement.

En-chan: I appreciated that Ohgaman was the one tending to Mako's injuries when we first started the episode.

DS: Both are nice details to be sure.

With all that said, tune in next time for the final battle. I believe in my boys to win the day!

Androzani: Will the Dogengers stop Yabai Kamen's evil? Will Kireko be able to use the Sheathe he prepared? Will Daisuke and Mako get together? Will Bincho Fire have to talk to emergency services in the event of an accident? Find out in the exciting conclusion (Except for that last one)!

[DreamSword]

Final Episode: Cultural Festival

DS: Nailed it.

En-chan: KitaQman with the toast tech FTW!

Androzani: The true Heshikiri-Hasebe scabbard is the friends we made along the way

So fun fact, this is the first episode in a while the subbers did from scratch, with the last few being scrubs of the Youtube uploads.

En-chan: Yeah, the Youtube uploads were basically how I watched most of the show at the time.

They did it to promote the final episode and the episodes had subs oddly enough.

Cue episode 12 not being released on youtube so I basically had to wait until Gagaga did this episode personally.

DS: Was it worth the wait?

En-chan: I feel like it was.

Androzani: It's the one where everyone uses a katana to fight off their enemies.

DS: To varying degrees of effectiveness, to boot.

En-chan: I do like how they just did a baton pass with the katana.

Everyone uses it in their own way. Though my personal favorite was Great-2 calling back to the Great Series with his usage.

DS: And in a what I'm assuming was a shout out to the Ultra series too.

Androzani: I don't recall a sword attack with a similar name in the Ultra Series, but I thought it sounded like an attack Xross Saber would perform.

DS: Me personally? My favorite was El Brave's'. Not just for the comedy behind it(the entire katana sequence is a hoot), but also because it kept consistent with his previous characterization when he couldn't handle his Buddy Blaster very well.

En-chan: When it comes to El Brave, his main weapon is his body. Doesn't matter if it's melee weapon, it'll likely just get in the way.

Androzani: And Koujin X actually showed up where he meant to go, with the Gundam base.

DS: I was glad we got the full sized mecha back, even if it was only for one Breast Fire style attack.

En-chan: Even if it was just the one attack, it was arguably one of the more important attacks in the final battle given it took out the giant castle Yabai Kamen set up and even redirected its big blast too.

Androzani: Talking of YK, I totally called that Kireko would sacrifice himself to seal away his demon sword powers and armour. Though I didn't guess that he'd come back from that.

DS: And he even kept his word and worked at the gas company for a month.

En-chan: Man chose to keep true to his word...

Also helped that there was video of said promise, so uh, couldn't exactly back down from that.

Androzani: Also Daisuke cements himself as more important than the majority of Precure love interests (Yes, HaCha and Wonderful being the exceptions) by giving the "big thematic" speech to Yabai Kamen.

DS: I'm glad he ended up not being a Fuji-P.

En-chan: I feel like that bar was extremely low.

But it's good to hear he cleared it in your eyes.

DS: Listen, just like Kireko told Mako, the process of change is built on tiny steps. Or something. Point is Daisuke is a pretty cool dude. He pushes the bad guys and doesn't afraid of anything.

Androzani: It helps that by that point, Yabai Kamen was in his "last season" form, with any power he gained from Heshikiri-Hasebe lost for now.

DS: Still enough power for the Dogengers to force him to help in the spirit channeling at the end though, haha.

En-chan: I am glad we ended up getting that runaround.

Because everything a majority of the episode sets up, is for the Kireko sacrifice to stick, what with Mako having her own way to transform despite losing him. And then we hit the ending where the Dogengers go "No, you're not done yet" and basically drag him out of the afterlife.

Androzani: I imagine there's some licensing thing with the MAKO character that required he be kept... not alive, since he's a ghost.

DS: I won't lie, with all the other insane stunts that Ohgaman has pulled over the course of the franchise, I was straight up expecting him to just like... walk into the astral plane and just drag Kireko out of it.

En-chan: Honestly I'm surprised he didn't.

Dude is like the most powerful Toku Character of all time.

Androzani: His stats are higher than Ohma Zi-O.

DS: Gotta love social media tidbits.

Speaking of which, one of my few disappointments with this finale: KitaQman didn't take off his helmet. I was rather fond of that tradition.

En-chan: Yeah that is a shame, we did get to see his brother and a brief bit of his powered-up form though.

Androzani: On the plus side, we did get every one off character from this season return for the culture festival.

DS: Including Bincho Fire, who made serious bank during this entire scuffle.

Honestly with everything else going on, the sword duel between MAKO and Yabai Kamen was kinda the weakest part in all this for me. Don't get me wrong, I liked it, and it's the grand payoff to Mako's' character development, but man, tough crowd to stand out from.

En-chan: Yeah, I can see that being the case.

Especially given how straight it's played. But I suppose that helps it stand out for me

DS: And as far as Dogengers finales go, while I felt this one was overall done well, I do think it's the bronze medal of the three we've seen so far. That's not at all an insult though because like, this one still very much got an emotional response out of me.

En-chan: That's good to hear.

DS: How'd you guys feel about it overall?

En-chan: While admittedly, I don't think anything is beating Nice Buddy in terms of emotional beats...

I thought this was pretty good overall.

That said I do appreciate the finale going out of its way to keep Kireko around. Definitely feels like they're shifting slight focus in comparison to prior stuff (I'm mostly looking at you Episode of I-DOLL).

Androzani: Not having much experience with Dogengers finales, I thought this was a pretty good end for the show (And with my lack of prior knowledge, I assumed the bad guys were spared because they need them for next season).

DS: Glad to see we all enjoyed it. And it's basically my final thoughts too. Were there any other aspects you guys would like to mention?

Androzani: Not about the episode, but I finally found that Dogengers/Donbrothers crossover parody comic I mentioned 11 reviews ago.

En-chan: I appreciate how even our villains got to partake in Bincho Fire's stand.

DS: I mean hey, they know he makes good stuff.

All that said, next time will be our final thoughts on the show as a whole. Will Androzani talk about how he and Maid Butler are one and the same? Will En-chan ever get a samurai sword? And when am I going to get some of that delectable looking Pizza Cooc? Who knows! Maybe we'll find out next time!

[DreamSword]

FINAL THOUGHTS ON HIGH SCHOOL

DS: Here we are, at the end of the road.

En-chan: Well with that car blocking the way, we certainly are.

Androzani: Well there is a spin-off, but it's not on anywhere I can think to look.

I only know about it due to JP Wikipedia saying there's a bonus episode this season that translates as "Return of Heshikiri-Hasebe."

DS: A shame that it never got subbed then

But for all intents and purposes, we're at the end of our watch. And just like En-chan and I did for Nice Buddy, we figured it'd be best to type up our own separate final thoughts, and then present them in their purest form. With maybe some small talk inbetween and after.

Androzani: Well I'll go first, so we can do this in alphabetical order.

Androzani84's' Final Thoughts:

Now I like to keep my final thoughts short but sweet, and this will be no exception. High School is a very easy entry point for beginners, considering its a third season. And while as a result of being the newbie, I was less invested in other characters from OG and Nice Buddy, I still think we got some memorable moments out of them. The designs took some getting used to, but coming out at the same time as Donbrothers and Revice helped make them a bit more palatable

DS: I can see that. Though it is shame that there's a good handful of references that will fly over the head of anyone new.

En-chan: The new protagonist does help put High School over the edge of potentially being the first season for someone over say a season like Nice Buddy which definitely feels like a continuation.

DS: Speaking of which, En-chan, how about you go next? E comes before S, afterall.

En-chan: Gladly.

ZeroEnchiladas' Final Thoughts:

I'd say High School is a fine addition to Dogengers and an overall solid show. There's a more noticeable budget increase this time around, but I still feel like it keeps the usual Dogengers charm. And I do enjoy the theme this season of 'change' being the core aspect.

Plus, I think they managed to hit the sweet spot for balance this season in terms of structure. While Jiro was our big character for Nice Buddy alongside the Dogengers again, their role got shared with two additional characters who while antagonistic, were just as important to the overall core of the story. As a result it was a very packed season even if it does have one of my favorite toku episodes of all time. Meanwhile High School firmly plants Mako into the protagonist seat with her own supporting cast. The Dogengers meanwhile are placed into mentor roles via the cultural festival. I think in terms of wanting to show off a new hero's story, while also making sure our other heroes aren't fighting for screen time, they did well.

Speaking of cast though, I really enjoyed all the new faces this time around and felt they lent towards the idea of "people can change" rather well. Our new heroes we introduced this season were also fun, Koujin EX and Bincho Fire made fun additions despite their fairly minor roles.

On the villain side, it was surprising to see characters like Shuraomaru and Shadow get episodes where we got to see more sides of them. And it was also nice to see Yabai Kamen back in the main villain seat, he's got that threatening aura back again while being the big goof we've come to enjoy.

A bit of a ramble, but I suppose that's it for me. Overall I enjoyed this rewatch quite a lot.

DS: Oh yeah I agree. Alot of the new stuff that the show managed to come up with when it came to the old cast was a definite highlight.

Androzani: Probably helps that they've been doing three seasons by this point, and probably realize they need to come up with new uses for the older cast

DS: And with that, I suppose it's my turn.

DreamSword's' Final Thoughts:

If I were to sum up Dogengers High School in one word, it'd be "average."

Almost everything about the show is about what you'd expect from a tokusatsu show about, well, a high schooler growing up.

The jokes? They're pretty good. The action? It's fine. The acting? Pretty decent. The music? Standard. The lessons imparted this season? Basically what you'd expect. Everything about this season is, well, normal.

And given how Mako's' entire deal is about her being ordinary, sure, one could argue that it's all very intentional in order to be thematically fitting. Heck, one of the statements this show makes(that I do approve of) is that while change is good, there's also nothing inherently wrong with being, well, a "normie."

But the main issue arises, however, when one remembers that this is Dogengers. The show that prided itself in just how outlandish yet at the very same time down to Earth it could be. While Nice Buddy forewent alot of the balanced tone of season 1 to be alot more comedic, High School swings the opposite direction of downplaying alot of aspects to be more standard toku/high school.

That's not to say the over the top antics are totally gone, of course. But they are definitely more in the background rather than at the forefront. If you're not invested in Mako and her relationships with her various classmates, then you really won't be into about 70% of this show. I was, so I didn't entirely mind, but at the same time I wasn't near as invested as I was with the stories that the previous two seasons had to offer.

Regardless though, I did enjoy what we got, and I'll never completely fault a franchise for trying something new in and of itself. It's just that, in terms of toku shows as a whole? HS doesn't have a whole lot to help make it stand out like what S1 and NB did. Despite that though, the main thing I look for in stories is characters, and I for sure liked all the characters in this season, both new and old. I made a GIF out of that mirror scene for more than one reason, you know. Even Daisuke ended up growing on me!

Anyway, I feel like I'm about to ramble in circles, so in the end, I can think of no more fitting a rating to give Dogengers High School then a 3/6. A perfectly average score for the stuff I review.

Androzani: I think the big difference is that the first two seasons had a fairly new director doing her first major projects, while High School was directed by a guy with 20 + years of working on Rider and Sentai.

DS: Yeah that's definitely one very notable difference. The directing styles are way different between this and the past two seasons.

En-chan: I do find it a bit amusing you hit average considering one of the very last lines in the show very much states that entirely ha ha.

DS: Just shows they knew what they were doing. And hey, I won't hold it against them.

With that, we hope you all enjoyed our (re)watch of Dogengers High School. Metropolis won't be for a good while, but I do hope my homeboys here join me for that as well!

Androzani: I've only seen two episodes of it, so I'm not so sure

En-chan: Well this just means I have to binge Metropolis in the near future then!

DS: The contract has been sealed.